What It Was Really Like To Be A Cold War Spy By Sarah Crocker/Feb. 5, 2021 4:51 pm EDT Saying that the Cold War was a tense period of time is surely understating the matter. From the end of World War II, the allies of the United States and the Soviet Union quickly turned against one another in a battle for worldwide domination. The simmering conflict lasted until 1991, History reports, though the collapse had been preceded by years of de-escalating tensions between the two superpowers. Stakes were high during the height of the Cold War, however. For many, the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, where it appeared most likely that the Cold War was going to turn dangerously hot, was a clear example of the danger posed by the opposite side. All of this tension meant, at least to officials, that every single advantage, no matter how small or how long it took to gain it, could mean the difference between maintaining the peace and dealing with World War III. This, then, is where the spies came in.